Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Kasalis (Burlington, MA) launches its first two products of active alignment of camera modules, the Pixid 100 R&D and the Pixid 100 Pro. The active alignment relies on the camera image during the final tuning process:

While the full system lineup is quite broad, only Pixid 100 R&D and the Pixid 100 Pro are available for shipment now:

Pixid 100 R&D Camera Module Alignment System

Kasalis was founded in 2011. It has completed its second round of investment in February 2012. The investment round is a private placement and details were not disclosed at the time.

6 comments:

I don't think the problem was ever figuring out how to do active alignment, at least for mobile cameras. It was the cost & time (also a cost) in manufacturing. Active alignment took too long and cost too much per module or per station to the point where the module cost was uncompetitive. It was cheaper to build more and sort, or just invest in passive assembly equipment.

You are correct that active alignment has been around for many years, and that, historically, cost and TAKT time have been the limiting factor preventing the widespread deployment of the technique for all but the highest performance cameras. However, technology has moved on since then. Kasalis has tackled this issue head-on with the very recent introduction of its Pixid series of active alignment systems for camera modules.

The Kasalis Pixid series has created a disruptive change in the value proposition of the technique by reducing the alignment time to single digit seconds providing per module costs that are competitive with more traditional, labor-intensive approaches and/or passive alignment methods. By driving the cost per module down, Kasalis aims to make active alignment the predominant manufacturing method for all camera modules. As sensor pixel density continues to grow, the need for better lenses and better alignment of these lenses will become the key factors in product differentiation among camera module manufacturers. Kasalis' Pixid line of assembly systems will provide the enabling technology required to allow our customers to provide better quality products at a lower cost while maintaining healthy margins.

We also use individual sensor alignment in our cameras and the tilt of the chip in the package is one of the major errors we have to correct, but the error in the lens axis tilt is also present. Tilt and focus are handled automatically by the 3 motors, the centering of the sensor (less critical) is adjusted with manual screws according to the calculated values (2 positions and one rotation). We also use the same setup to select the best lenses and measure the geometric distortions - http://blog.elphel.com/2011/10/subpixel-registration-and-distrortion-measurement/

As a photographer I am very aware of this issue and looking for manufacturers who have solved this. Unfortunately not everyone can afford Leica cameras (Individually aligned)or Alpa cameras (adjustable alignment). Would love for manufacturers to solve this, as improved resolution leading to better Image Quality is a vital factor for some like me. It does show on prints.

In addition I am waiting patently for a mainstream true full colour sensors with improved micro contrast, colours and details/resolution, leading to better image quality (Foveon like).

Adimec is performing similar adjustments on it cameras since 1992. It all started with cameras for military use, but since 12 years all of our cameras (including medical and machine vision) are aligned in our factory.